Louisiana has highest rate of child homelessness, report says

WASHINGTON -- Louisiana has the highest rate of child homelessness of the 50 states, according to a report being released today by the National Center for Family Homelessness based in Newton, Mass.

Based on statistics gathered in 2005 and 2006 in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Louisiana numbers may be "a little bit inflated," said Ellen Bassuk, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School who is founder and president of the center.

But Bassuk said the study includes a broader range of indices, all of which suggest that children in Louisiana are among the most at risk in the nation of going homeless. Bassuk said the study uses the federal Department of Education definition of homelessness, which includes people living with others after losing their homes or being evicted, as opposed to the more stringent, literal federal Department of Housing and Urban Development definition, which includes only children actually living on the street or sleeping in a car.

"The biggest driving factor for risk of homelessness is poverty," Bassuk said. "The top 10 states (with the best "overall" rating on child homelessness) have a poverty rate of 13 percent; for the bottom 10, the child poverty rate is 26 percent."

The bottom 10 states are, from the bottom up, Texas, Georgia, Arkansas, New Mexico, Louisiana, Nevada, North Carolina, Florida, Kentucky and Mississippi. The top 10 states are the New England states, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and Hawaii.

According to the "America's Youngest Outcasts: State Report on Child Homelessness," only children in Texas faced a higher risk of homelessness than children in Louisiana, and in 2005 and 2006, 75 percent of America's identified homeless children lived in 11 states.

Louisiana did not come in last on the overall ranking in part because the state got some credit for attempting to grapple with the issue. It was given points for "moderate planning" on the issue, while the planning efforts in such other Southern states as Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Texas, were all rated "inadequate."

The report cited Louisiana's creation of an Interagency Council for the Homeless in 1991, which, in 2006 created a "Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness." The report also noted a bill -- which subsequently passed and was signed into law -- that sets a state goal of halving child poverty in Louisiana within 10 years.

The study updates one the center released 12 years ago. According to the center, the problem has worsened in the last dozen years, and that was before the terrible economic news of the past several months.

The report warns: "The effects of our nation's economic downturn -- including increasing numbers of foreclosures, job layoffs, rising food and fuel prices, and inadequate supplies of low-cost housing -- will surely add to the legions of children who are homeless."

"We must not allow grim forecasts about the nation's economy to delay aggressive action," the report continues. "It is possible to end child homelessness within a decade with dedicated funds from local, state and federal governments that are combined with reallocated dollars."

In Louisiana, the report notes that at $6.55 an hour, the federal minimum wage, amounts to less than half the hourly wage necessary to afford at two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent.

According to the center, the typical homeless family in Louisiana is a single mother with two children. The average monthly income for that single mother who receives public assistance is less than $475, which means the family can afford to pay $142 in monthly rent, $603 shy of the average fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment.

"For families in this situation," the report notes, "even a seemingly minor event can trigger a catastrophic outcome, pushing a family into the streets."

The ripple effect of homelessness is profound, according to the study, affecting every aspect of a child's life, including: much higher incidences of asthma, dental problems and emotional difficulties, including an increased likelihood of witnessing traumatic stress and violence.

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Jonathan Tilove can be reached at jtilove@timespicayune.com or 202.383.7827.